Jon Rosamond, writing for IHS Jane’s Navy International, has an article entitled “Canada turns to Asterix for stop gap at-sea support.” The article was published on 04 October 2015. Rosamond confirms that the identity of the ship is MV Asterix. The website MarineTraffic.com reports her current position as Quebec City, […]
It is reasonable that the Department of National Defence1 (DND) is considering (conducting a “staff check,” to use military language as also used by an interviewee in a television report on this matter) the transfer of systems and parts from current Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) ships to future ships. Warship […]
Word is reaching me that the number of designs under consideration for the AOR-JSS ship is down to only one. Apparently, the Spanish have been told that their Cantabria-class AOR [an enlarged version of the Spanish Patino-class] is no longer in the running. This leaves only the German Berlin-class design. […]
[*Moderator’s Note: This article appeared originally as part of the ‘Plain Talk’ series in the Fall 2010 issue (Vol. 6, No. 3) of Canadian Naval Review.] Is the announcement of a new $2.6 billion project to acquire two Joint Support Ships good news or bad news for the navy? The […]
The Australians purchased the surplus Bay-Class LSD(A) Largs Bay from the UK for $100M AUS dollars this month. News reports suggest the ship will be in service with the Royal Australian Navy in late 2011 or early 2012. In Canada, after almost 20 years of process, we have no amphibious […]
Two recently posted articles ask if Canada should purchase a surplus Bay-class Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) from the UK. The 2010 UK Strategic and Defence Review could result in one of the four 16,000 tonne Bay-class LSD(A)s being decommissioned. The Bay-class LSD(A)s entered service in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary between […]
Defence Industry Daily (13 Oct 10 – “Canada’s C$2.9 B “Joint Support Ship” Project, Take 2”) and Dave Pugliese’s Defence Watch (20 Oct 10 – “Joint Support Ship Less Capable But Air Force Can Pick Up the Slack Says DND”) indicate that the Department of National Defence has decided to adjust the scope […]
The announcement on the evening of Friday, August 22, 2008 of the cancellation of the JSS procurement should have been no surprise to any observer of naval and military affairs. The proposed ships were too innovative and too complex to succeed in the Canadian political and military environment. In a […]
The unexpected press release announcing the termination of procurement processes for two new types of ships for the Canadian Coast Guard and navy was no doubt a heavy blow. And for the perennially under funded coast guard, the indefinite delay for the twelve new patrol ships they’d been counting on […]
The government, national defence, naval priorities and expeditionary requirements have not been well served by explanations for reconsideration of the approved JSS program given the economic importance and operational urgency in replacement of the old fleet supply vessels. These have focused on bids that have greatly exceeded a badly miscalculated budget for capital and support allowances. This was set in the face […]
